'Terrorist Lawyers' Arrested in Jerusalem

Legal practice in eastern Jerusalem helped terrorists pass secret information into and out of prison - for a fee.

By Yishai Karov

First Publish: 4/2/2014, 4:55 PM

Islamic Jihad terrorists in Gaza

Reuters

In the past few weeks Israeli security forces apprehended six terror suspects in Jerusalem, who had been running a "legal practice" dedicated to aiding Islamist terrorists from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, it was revealed Wednesday.

For the last three years suspects - five men and one woman - had run a legal practice which they had used to traffic money, pass secret messages and generally facilitate communication between terrorists in Israeli jails and operatives throughout Israel and even abroad.

They were arrested in the Arab neighborhood of Issawiya in the northeastern section of Jerusalem, in a joint undercover operation involving police and the Shabak (Israel Security Agency).

Under interrogation it was revealed that two Arab brothers and residents of Jerusalem had initially set up the "Al Quds" legal practice, and immediately began using it to transfer money to other attorneys throughout the capital.

For a fee of between 500-700 shekels per visit per prisoner, the men would facilitate the transmission of secret messages and other information to and from imprisoned terrorists, covering a variety of different topics such as coordinating hunger-strikes and funding initiatives for Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

In the coming days the suspects will be indicted for supporting terrorist activities. Charges include membership in a terrorist organization, contact with a foreign agent and conspiring to commit a crime.

Police have applied to extend their detention until the end of proceedings.